explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1713: 50 ccs

2026-04-14T21:09:01Z

Ambersant: I didn't know what bacchanalia meant and I don't think most people do, so I provided a definition.

{{comic
| number = 1713
| date = July 29, 2016
| title = 50 ccs
| image = 50_ccs.png
| titletext = There's been a raccoon accident at an accordion bacchanalia! Double doses!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic presents a busy day in the clinic for doctor [[Ponytail]], who orders 50 CCs from a nurse (probably [[Megan]] who walks in front of her rather than [[Cueball]] walking away behind her), all the while everyone is hurrying along the hall. This could be a typical scenario in a busy hospital. However the pun is that the 50 CCs are not medicine but should be used to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times.

In medicine, "CC" usually means "{{w|cubic centimeter}}", and is often called that by medical personnel. A cubic centimeter is equal to 1 ml (milliliter), so "50 CCs" usually means 50 ml of a certain medicine. In this case however, the doctor has not told the nurse to bring 50 CCs of any given medicine; instead, she needs to write "hi'''cc'''up va'''cc'''ine" 25 times, with both words containing the letter combination "cc", so she needs to write that combination 50 times.

There's no conventional {{w|vaccine}} against {{w|hiccup}}s. However, performing tasks meant to distract one's self is a method to stop hiccups. Therefore the act of writing "hiccup vaccine" 25 times would itself comprise one more of those hiccup cures that never seems to work. What these techniques all rely on is that they all force one to hold one's breath, thus resetting the diaphragm from its out of sync spasms. But if Ponytail has discovered a vaccine that ''does'' somehow cure or prevent hiccups, then this unexpected result is worth reporting in medical journals and seeking grants for further study. Thus, wanting to write about it 25 times is understandable!

The title text text refers to a fictional event (a {{w|Bacchanalia|wine festival}} with music played on {{w|accordion|accordions}} that has had an accident involving {{w|raccoon|raccoons}}) with four words containing "cc" (ra'''cc'''oon, a'''cc'''ident, a'''cc'''ordion, ba'''cc'''hanalia), which means she needs to write "cc" 100 times. Referring to the 50 CCs from above, this would be a double dosage.

A bacchanalia is traditionally a Roman celebration of the god Bacchus, though in the modern day it can mean any hedonistic celebration.

A similar doctor Ponytail is shown in [[883: Pain Rating]] also along with Cueball and Megan and just with Megan in [[996: Making Things Difficult]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail in a doctor's coat, walks right while reading from a clipboard, passing Cueball walking the other way while she talks to Megan walking in front of her.]
:Ponytail: Nurse, bring me 50 CCs!
:Ponytail: I need to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

555: Two Mirrors

2026-03-20T03:28:53Z

Ambersant: added a reference for Hofstadter

{{comic
| number = 555
| date = March 13, 2009
| title = Two Mirrors
| image = two_mirrors.png
| titletext = If you actually do this, what really happens is Douglas Hofstadter appears and talks to you for eight hours about strange loops.
}}

==Explanation==
In folklore, {{w|Bloody Mary (folklore)|Bloody Mary}} is a legendary ghost or spirit conjured to reveal the future. She is said to appear in a mirror when her name is called multiple times (mainly 3). The Bloody Mary apparition may be benign or malevolent, depending on historic variations of the legend. The Bloody Mary appearances are mostly "witnessed" in teenage group participation games, often as part of a game of truth or dare. This is Bloody Mary's first appearance in xkcd, the second being [[2364: Parity Conservation]].

In this comic, Megan sets up two mirrors facing each other, in which reflections bounce back and forth between the mirrors until the mirrors absorb all the light. She then says "Bloody Mary" three times (as in the folklore) before ducking, conjuring an infinite number of spirits who jump from the mirror towards each other. It's not clear if they simply collide, or pass into the opposing mirror.

{{w|Douglas Hofstadter}} (also referenced in [[917: Hofstadter]] and [[608: Form]]) is the author of ''{{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}}'' and ''{{w|I Am a Strange Loop}}''. In the former book, among many other discussions of infinite loops, he points a television camera at the screen on which its image is projected, forming an endless series of screens similar to panel 2 of this comic. In the latter book he focuses on the idea of minds being self-referential. "In the end, we are self-perceiving, self-inventing, locked-in mirages that are little miracles of self-reference". This blends with the idea of the images of the person looking in the mirror being reflected endlessly.

==Transcript==
:[Megan sets up a full mirror facing a bathroom-counter mirror.]

:[Megan looks through the bathroom counter mirror to see the infinite reflections.]

:Megan: Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary.

:[Megan ducks as the infinite Bloody Marys pop out between the two mirrors above her head.]
:Bloody Marys: RAAGHHHHH

==Trivia==
In the right-most panel, Megan can still be seen standing in the right mirror even though she had ducked down at that point.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

57: Wait For Me

2026-03-15T20:31:57Z

Ambersant: I'm pretty sure that the joke in the last panel is saying that she is about as smart as a fetus for believing his ridiculous affair lie.

{{comic
| number = 57
| date = January 31, 2006
| title = Wait For Me
| image = wait_for_me.jpg
| titletext = Opening dialogue by Scott
}}

==Explanation==
This comic juxtaposes a familiar exchange with a surreal outcome.

[[Megan]] is returning after a short absence. [[Cueball]] reacts as if she had been gone for years, and admits to having an affair while waiting.

In this comic, a familiar exchange occurs where one person asks the other why they did not wait. The humor lies in the improbability of him falling in love and having an affair within 90 seconds, the impossibility of him having a son in that time, and the ridiculous notion that the son would now be about Megan's current age. This is of course impossible, as it would imply that Cueball experienced twenty-ish years of life in what felt like 1.5 minutes for Megan. (He might conceivably have managed to have sex in that time span, which would fit with the experience of Cueball in [[1068: Swiftkey]]).

The last panel could also be referencing the common phrase "born yesterday", used to describe someone who is gullible, though it usually takes 1-2 weeks after intercourse for a zygote to begin to form.

[[Scott]] appears to be a friend of [[Randall]]. Comics 57 through 59 all have the title text ''[[:Category:Opening dialogue by Scott|Opening dialogue by Scott]]'', forming a sort of informal mini-series inspired by him. They are:
*[[57: Wait For Me]]
*[[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]
*[[59: Graduation]]
As there already was a comic released on Monday that week, the first of these three was released on Tuesday, then Wednesday and Friday. This may be related to the fact that this was the first week where the comics were not also released on [[LiveJournal]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing one another.]
:Megan: Why didn't you wait for me?
:Cueball: I thought you were gone forever!

:[Megan throws out her arms, and Cueball is looking down.]
:Megan: I said I'd be back in a minute!
:Cueball: The... the seconds went fast at first, but then they started to drag on.
:Cueball: She was there for me.

:[Same scene as before, except Megan has her arms out less.]
:Megan: You had an affair in the 90 seconds I was gone?!
:Cueball: ...yes.

:[Cueball and Megan stand facing one another in a smaller panel.]
:Cueball: And we had a son.

:[Same scene as before.]
:Cueball: He'd be about your age now.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Opening dialogue by Scott]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Scott]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]